Cultivating conversions with email
For marketers, the number-one goal in every campaign is maximizing conversions. Of course, we all want our marketing efforts to result in increased sales. However, a conversion is not just a number or a term for success. Conversions are actual people who invested in your business by following through with the intended call-to-action. A conversion is a success, but true success comes from cultivating conversions and establishing long-lasting relationships with customers.
It is Marketing 101 that retention is more profitable and easier than acquisition efforts. Existing customers are less costly to pursue, but the key to retention marketing is that it lays the groundwork for a relationship. If you can cultivate conversions and provide additional value to customers, loyalty and extended customer lifetime value will soon follow.
Email is an effective and cost-efficient way to communicate with customers. The cost per contact with email can be a fraction of the cost of other targeted channels such as direct mail. Email is also the preferred direct marketing channel for consumers, according to the 2012 ExactTarget Channel Preference Survey. In order to fully optimize cultivating conversions through relationship marketing, we have outlined ways to connect with new and established customers that complete transactions.
New Customers
Once new customers are acquired, the last thing you want to do is neglect them. Instead, try to build their trust so they will become repeat customers. Cultivating conversions can be accomplished by informing them that you know they exist, you are there to help and you want them to be satisfied. Here are few campaigns that can build familiarity and trust while supplementing the sales journey.
Power User campaigns
After customers make their first transactions, it is the best time to introduce features and tools that can make their next transaction more seamless. You want them to be “Power Users” of the product or service. The way to get them there is to provide information so they don’t have to seek out answers to questions. A Power User campaign does just that. Through a series of emails, you can introduce beneficial aspects of the product or service that will encourage engagement and allow your brand to be top of mind once the customer is ready to re-engage. This is a classic method to cultivate conversions through email marketing touch points.
Offer campaigns
As previously mentioned, conversions are people. It is natural for customers to have increased sentiment for a company that acknowledges their birthday or says thank you for being a customer. It is a great opportunity to show that you are human and care that they are a satisfied customer.
Established Customers
After introductory email communications have allowed customers to gain trust and familiarity with your company, cultivating conversions can be transitioned to inspire loyalty as an established customer. Data can be utilized to increase personalization and customization, which are excellent ways to be relevant to customers who want to hear from you. Although these established customers are happily using the product or service, it is important to continue to cultivate conversions so they continue to have a positive experience that results in continued conversions.
Behavioral/Preference-based campaigns
At this point in the lifecycle we can exercise more sophisticated accumulated behavioral data to provide useful recommendations or reminders. Customers are believers in the product or service; email communications should reinforce their uses to encourage continued engagement. A behavioral campaign can be triggered from an action that the customer has taken, such as visiting a web page or clicking a link in an email. Transactional information can also be used to re-engage with customers, e.g., providing relevant recommendations based on past purchases.
Feedback-driven campaigns
Loyal customers can also be motivated to re-engage through use of reviews, surveys or other feedback mechanisms. Sending email communications to request feedback shows how you value customers’ opinions. Established customers are more likely to provide feedback in exchange for ways to improve their experience. A feedback campaign can energize established customers and educate new customers. For example, if a business were to have a Q&A web page for new customers to ask questions, a feedback email campaign can be sent to established customers who have had a transaction related to the product or service that has been inquired upon by new customers. The engagement not only benefits new customers in need of help but also encourages established customers’ engagement and expertise.
These are methods of cultivating conversions that marketers can consider when assessing ways to leverage existing customers. So that no potential long-term customer is abandoned, it is essential to lay the foundation for each customer to have the potential of becoming a loyal repeat customer.
At Jacobs & Clevenger, we send almost 10 million emails each year for our clients. That’s why we’re such strong advocates of optimizing success of email marketing campaign performance. Take our free email marketing assessment to discover how to improve email effectiveness.